Snap fastener



P. E. FENTON SNAP FASTENER Filed Aug. 17, 1955 IAIII Rn Nn W e NP.. IE1m d P zgsrl'glsa- SNAP FAsrENElr Paul E. Fenton, Miililennry; Cn.,assigner' for Scovill' Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a'co'i'po# ration of Connecticut Application ugust 17, 1953,.S`erialo.374,591 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-216) This invention is an improved snap`fastener socket member for use in that type of siiapfa'stenercombination whichiis` commonly referred to? asI a laundry-proof snapfastener.

Although laundry-proof snap fasteners have come into wide use since theinvention of the socket member shown in Fenton Patent No. 2,106,728 theyhave always been found wanting in certain respects especially when theiruse has been extended to garments where the fasteners might be subjectto considerable lateral stress. This was due mainly to the distortion ofthe spring fingers of the socket member beyond their elastic limitsafter which the stud and socket would not -snap together properly.

Attempts to meet this problem are exemplified by patents to Dews, No.2,129,825, and Fenton, No. 2,371,- 813. In those cases an extra memberwas provided as armor which added so much to the bulk and expense of thefastener that it found only a limited field of application. The need wasobviously for a snap fastener socket of the so-called one-piece typewhich could be manufactured inexpensively in a single machine andwithout requiring assembling operations. It may be noted here thanone-piece member means one-piece aside from the prong ring which is usedto attach it to a garment by insertion of the prongs through the garmentmaterial into clinching engagement with a breast portion surrounding thespring fingers of the socket member. The wall of the breast portion ofsuch a socket member necessarily starts olf with a lead-in angle for theprongs to take care of slight variations in the location of the prongsrelative to the socket during the attaching operation. It must alsocurve outwardly so as to bend the prongs into engagement with theretaining ring. This has always required that the breast wall be so faraway from the fingers that there was nothing to back them up so thatthey might be quite easily distorted when a strong lateral pull wasplaced on any one of the fingers by the stud.

The central barrel portion which is slitted to provide the springlingers has taken a generally circular form. According to my invention Iprovide beads on the ends of the fingers which are in circulararrangement to define a circular stud receiving opening, but thecross-section of each finger i-s non-circular, preferably angular, sothat a portion of each finger is located suiciently close to thesurrounding breast wall that it will be supported thereby so that itcannot be distorted beyond its elastic limit by lateral stress.Expressed in another way, I provide on the inside face of each finger alengthwise extending flute or groove so as to displace the intermediatepart of each finger outwardly for the required distance to accomplish mypurpose. By thus localizing the outward deformation of the fingers myimproved socket may be manufactured without additional steps and withoutunduly distorting the central barrel portion so as to cause the metal tocrack.

The formation of the lengthwise extending grooves ICC or iiutes isaccomplished by a simple step inthe process of: manufacture'.

Other4 objects and' advantages of my invention willhereinafter more'fully appear.

In thedrawing:

Fig.I 1- is a2 sectional-view ofla': snap fastener'installationfconstructed,v in accordance with'i the invention` and show# ing aconventional-studiv assembly.' therewith.

Fig. 2' isa plan'lview ofi the socket; peri se;-

member, the'l'view takenralongthe'line ofl Fig.

Fig. 4 is* a similar cross=sectional view of the same'7V tion-`comprisingl a socket? 1'0" and;` a conventional1.studl 1=1i of circularcross section. The stud 11 is affixed to a supporting sheet 12 in theusual manner as by a rivet post 11a, The stud 11 is formed with theusual enlarged head 13 and reduced neck 14.

The socket member 10 is mounted upon a suitable support 15 as by meansof an attaching prong ring 16 of well known construction. The socketmember 10 comprises a central barrel portion slitted to provide a seriesof resilient fingers 17 Varranged around a stud-receiving opening 17awithin an annular breast portion 18 and are integrally joined thereto bya U-shaped connecting section 19. It is to be noted from Fig. 3 that thelingers 17 extend substantially straight upwardly from their connectingsection 19 and terminate at their free ends in inwardly rolled beads orlips 20 which are in circular arrangement to define the stud receivingopening 17a. l

The breast portion 18 of my improved socket starts from the U-shapedconnecting section 19 and is flared upwardly and outwardly to form agently sloping anvil section 21 and terminates in an annular rim 22 ofU-shape in cross-section. The edge of the annular rim 22 is spaced fromthe anvil section 21 to provide an annular opening 23 through which theprongs 16a of the prong ring may be inserted and biased outwardly bysaid anvil ysection 21 in the setting operation.

In order to provide the right amount of resiliency for the springfingers for releasable and holding engagement with the stud 11, I preferto use four individual fingers 17 separated by slits 24. Also to preventthe fingers 17 from being distorted beyond their elastic limits ifsubjected to any severe lateral strains, each finger is formed with alongitudinal liute or groove 25 running lengthwise and on the innersurface thereof at substantially a mid point between the side edges ofthe fingers. This fluting of the interior of the lingers will distortthe outer circumference of the fingers outwardly so that the generalarrangement of the fingers, in toto, will be substantially square asseen in Fig. 2 and consequently the high points or apices of theprotuberance of each finger will be relatively close to the surroundingbreast portion 18. Each linger may be described as angular incrosssection although the corner is not a sharp corner. The distancethat each corner is spaced from the surrounding anvil portion isapproximately .004 to .008l and it is this distance that the fingerswill be permitted to spring outwardly without being distorted beyondtheir elastic limits. It is to be noted that while the fluting of thefingers causes the outer circumference of the fingers to assumegenerally a square shape the inner periphery of the rolled beads forgripping the stud will still remain in a circular arrangement.

While certain changes may be made in the construction as illustratedwhich are well within the skill of the Patented Dec. 24, 1957 ordinarymechanic, it is intended that the foregoing shall be considered in adescriptive rather than in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

In a laundry-proof snap fastener installation of the type having asocket member adapted for snap engagement with a stud member of circularcross section, which socket member is attachable to sheet-likesupporting material by means of a pronged ring insertable through thematerial into engagement with said socket member; said socket membercomprising a single piece of sheet metal shaped to provide a centralbarrel portion slitted to provide a plurality of resilient ngers, thefree ends of said ngers being turned radially inwardly to formstudgripping beads, said beads being in circular arrangement and deninga central stud receiving opening, and a .breast portion surrounding said.ngers and having its inner lower edge integrally joined to said ngers,said breast portion extending from its inner lower edge in a continuousupward and outward slope to provide an anvil surface for outwardlydeectng the prongs of a prong close proximity to the breast portion sothat any lateral movement `of said fingers, beyond their elastic limitis prevented.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS 878,550Mead `Feb. 11, 1908 2,015,049 Carr Sept. 17, 1935 2,440,684 Huelster May4, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS y 6,688 Great Britain Apr. 18, 1889

